This invention relates to a system for reading films optically and registering files of the read images.
In medical fields, a hardcopy film produced, for example, using ultrasonic, magnetic resonance imaging and X-ray equipment must be efficiently managed together with corresponding medical charts.
The films or their copies are read by a scanner to form an image data file, which may then be placed with a document file of the corresponding charts under computerized control.
According to a conventional scanner, however, the film or its copy is illuminated only from the side to be read and that same side is scanned by a one-dimensional image sensor.
Then, the image sensor outputs read data, which are compressed into a file. This image file is in turn registered together with a document file of the corresponding chart.
With such a system, where an image file of each film is registered along with a document file of the corresponding chart, it is possible to manage and use images with satisfactory efficiency.
However, the resolution or density contrast of the film images achieved using the conventional scanner have been insufficient for diagnosis. Thus, there is strong demand for increasing that resolution.